Here’s an Easier Way To Monitor Your Credit History

Here’s an Easier Way To Monitor Your Credit History

After all the recent news reports regarding data breaches not just at major companies, but also at a major credit reporting bureau as well, it’s become vitally important to monitor your credit history for any signs of fraud or attempts at identity theft. And, of course, it’s always good just to know how well you are doing with your credit score anyway, especially if you plan on getting a loan or a mortgage in the future.

Monitoring your credit history doesn’t have to be difficult or time-consuming—today’s advanced technology and the availability of many apps and services make it easy for you to monitor your credit history with very little effort. Here are some of the best and easiest ways to monitor your credit history.

Use Free Services

You’ve probably already seen commercials or advertisements on the Internet for free credit monitoring services such as Credit Karma. The service provides you with monthly updates, but will also alert you if it detects any suspicious activity. A similar service is Credit Sesame. This service also offers identity theft insurance.

It should be noted that while these services are free, they are somewhat limited in scope, as they only track credit reports from TransUnion, and not the other two major credit reporting bureaus.

Use Paid Services

If you are more concerned about your credit, you can opt for a premium service that provides more comprehensive monitoring services. LifeLock is a popular choice, and the service offers various levels of service you can choose from to suit your needs and your budget. The credit reporting bureau TransUnion, and the service myFICO also offers a similar service that tracks credit reports from all three bureaus.

Get Your Own Annual Credit Report

By law, you are allowed to get a free credit report once per year from each major credit reporting bureau. You can contact each agency on your own, or you can utilize AnnualCreditReport.com to make it easier to obtain the credit reports. Review and compare these reports to ensure everything is correct and that there is no suspicious or incorrect information on there, such as credit checks you don’t recognize.

Using a combination of the above services is a great way to minimize the risk of fraudulent activity and identity theft and catch any suspicious activity early.

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